July 2008

So, I know I'm still updating the summer (which was a couple of months ago); but hey, I seem to live a couple of months behind. Time just gets away from me!

Hanging out in the pool


July was very eventful this year. First, for the 4th of July my parents and Kaylee came down and we swam, did a few fireworks (which Max slept through and Darrin ran when they went off) and then even made it to the City of St. George show. We were very impressed - they even had background patriotic music. It definitely made me feel proud to be an American!!!


The Fireworks Crew (notice Darrin's terrified look)


A couple of weeks later, for the 24th, my parents, Christy & Greg, Cody, Kaylee and Jessica all came down so we could party at Lake Powell. I was so excited because it is my favorite vacation and I haven't been able to go for YEARS!!! So, everyone headed over on Monday and Troy and I were going to head over there on Wednesday night. Well, Kaylee called me at like 9:00pm on Monday night and said "Brooke, I just wanted to let you know that the houseboat caught on fire." I was shocked and didn't believe her at first. Then she told me what happened and I couldn't believe it...you mean, OUR houseboat caught on fire? It was crazy!



We don't really know what happened exactly, just that it happened pretty soon after they got on the boat, and luckliy, hadn't left the slip yet. Later that night as I was thinking about it, I realized how disastrous it could have been and was just SO grateful that nobody was hurt. I concluded that for some reason, we weren't supposed to be at Lake Powell that week, for whatever reason and was just so thankful that everything turned out okay.



So, instead of partying at Lake Powell, we were able to hang out at my parent's house and swim away the heat. The guys did a lot of golfing and the girls were able to just hang out and we even got pedicures (thanks mom!). All in all, it was a blast just to be able to hang out with my great family. I love them all so much and wish we could do it more often!!!

Bear Lake "Boot Camp"

This is the start of my summer update...at the end of June, we were able to go to Bear Lake with Troy's family. We had a blast. It was definitely nice to escape the heat of Southern Utah and get to relax with family!

Our "Boot Camp" consisted of a strenuous 1-mile hike, with gorgeous views, a water grenade fight (they were pretty hard to pop!) and a snowball fight (with socks)! We were also able to go wave-running and swimming in the COLD, yet very gorgeous, Bear Lake. And my kids got play in the mud puddles!

We even got our own private showing of Iron Man on the back deck (with no attack of the skunks this year.)

Thanks Troy's family for a GREAT time! It's always fun and crazy at the Braithwaite Bashes!!!

All About Max

All About Max

Age: 11 months

Nicknames: Mr. Cheeks, Mr. Bubbles, Splash Monster, June Box #2

Favorite Foods: Who knows? Max is such a picky eater like his dad, it drives me nuts! The only things he will eat are formula, yogurt, pudding, goldfish & cheerios

Favorite Shows: Max LOVES Finding Nemo. When we turn it on he smiles really big and just stares at it...his expression is classic.

Favorite Sayings: Max can say, "Mama", "Dada", "No No", "Whoa" and sometimes I can hear "Nemo"

Things He Loves to Do: Grab everything that Darrin is playing with, Just be outside in his stroller, go for drives, take baths (especially with Darrin so he can SPLASH like crazy), pull Harley's tail, make very messy diapers (hence the name Mr. Bubbles)

His Personality: Max is quite the character. He is very loud and assertive, compared to how Darrin was when he was younger. He has a bit of a temper, especially when he's tired and hungry; however, if those two areas are taken care of, he is the most pleasant child in the world. He has the cutest blue eyes (I never thought I would have a blue-eyed child) and the cutest smile. He cheeses it for everyone that smiles at him and has the most contagious laugh in the world. His is very chubby and has the chunkiest Thunder Thighs you can imagine. I love to tickle him (especially his thighs) and hear him laugh his heart out. He loves his older brother and now that he is mobile is happy just exploring all of the fun things he can get into.

Funny Pics:

This picture comes with a funny story...and actually happens too often than it should. Max has always had crazy problems with his bowel movements which has left him naked in many instances when his flaky mom forgot an extra outfit. This particular night I took a picture because I thought the hammer added a nice "white trashy" touch. My poor kids!!!

Max & his favorite past-time: his bottle

All About Darrin

Since I am the worst about scrapbooking and baby books, I've decided to create posts that are "All About Darrin & Max". That way they will know a little bit about their childhood (hopefully). Here it goes:

All About Darrin

Age: 2 1/2 years old

Nickname(s): Mister, Boo Boos, June Box #1 (don't ask where all of these came from)

Favorite Foods: Chex Mix, Carrots, Fruit Snacks, Salad, Chocolate Milk, did I mention Chex Mix? I swear, he could eat a whole bag in one day...it's crazy!

Favorite Shows: Finding Nemo, Cars, Doodlebops, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Choo Choo Soul (he sings the whole song)

Favorite Books: We're going on a Bear Hunt, Good Boy Fergus, His Nemo Book

Funny Sayings: "Unga", meaning...who knows? (all of his cousins love this one!), "Da Goon" meaning...Harley, kennel! (the funny thing is, Harley knows exactly what he's saying), "Hi" meaning...yes (he says Hi to say hello and also says a form of it as yes. Somebody told us that's how it's said in Japanese; go figure)"Duck Bread" this is what he calls all of our bread now because sometimes we will feed it to the ducks.

Things He Loves to Do: Feed the ducks, play sports (especially baseball, golf & basketball), blow bubbles, color, help me do anything I'm doing (laundry, cooking, cleaning), throw toys away from Max, ride his bike (which he nows know how to pedal), swim (once we force him into his little floatie thing, he loves it), going to nursery.

Personality: Darrin is a very laid-back kid. He is quiet and reserved and not very adventurous. He doesn't like to try new things or be in big groups of people. He is a great with his little brother (most of the time) and is starting to enjoy helping me with chores around the house. He is a joy to have around the house and makes me smile with his cute sayings and expressions. He is so excited about life right now and it is so fun to see him learn and explore all of the things he can do. He has been a little slow with his speech but is starting to expand his vocabulary and is trying really hard to communicate and put sentences together. It is so fun to hear what he comes up with!

Cute Pics:

Playing baseball in the neighbor girl's princess shoes! He has a fetish and I just had to take a picture so I have some blackmail as he gets older (Troy isn't a big fan!)

Showing off his new golf clubs from his Great Grandma Elkington...thanks Grandma, he loves them!

What's Up Down South?

Since Disneyland, life has been crazy, as usual. Does it ever slow down? The month of May was very eventful and busy; however, it must not have been very exciting because I don't have any pictures to show for it. The major events that happened in May were:

-We attended the baby blessing for Naomi Braithwaite, the FIRST girl to come from the Braithwaite Boys!!! (so you're saying there's a chance?) She is such a doll!

-Troy and I took a business trip out to Kansas City for a training with Duct Tape Marketing. We have decided to add a marketing division to our company and this was the "official" licensing training. I got to tag along which was fun...definitely nice to get away w/ good company!

-My little bro, Cody, graduated from high school (wow, I'm old!). He looked great and was so excited to be done. He is an amazing person and I am glad to have him as a brother...he always lights up a room with his fun-loving personality! To celebrate, my family had a big bash at Lagoon. It was fun to go on some of the rides and to watch Darrin go on the same 3 rides the whole day! No seriously, he was OBSESSED with the little car ride that goes around in a loop. He would get on, ride around, get off, and then jump back in line. Everytime he got to the end the lady would say, "Here he comes again!" It was quite hilarious!!!

Darrin & his cousin, Stacey, on the infamous car ride (this was the beginning of the obsession)

Changing it up a little w/ a boat ride

Back to the cars

Happiest Place on Earth

We survived Tax Season...so, to celebrate, we packed up the kids in the family van and headed off to DISNEYLAND. We met up with Troy's parents and his sister, Bobi, and her family there and had a blast. I can't say that it was the Happiest Place on Earth for Darrin (when he would get off a ride he would dart out of the building, collapse on the ground outside and start bawling, almost like he was so grateful that he survived the ride!) Needless to say, we only took him on two rides and after the outbursts we figured it wasn't worth torturing him.

His favorite sites were:

Playhouse Disney Live on Stage

The Choo-Choo Train Ride

Buzz Lightyear

His new buddy, Brock

Max was just happy to hang out in the stroller and kick-back a bottle of formula. He fell asleep in his stroller a couple of times; however, he HAS to sleep on his stomach, so his little feet would hang down out of the stroller and it was hilarious looking.

Max's favorite event was the pool. It was his first time swimming and he LOVED to splash. We started calling him the "Splash Monster" because he would get in the pool and just start splashing like crazy. He would get water all over his face and he didn't even care. We even started chasing Darrin around the pool with Max trying to splash him and he would make a funny monster noise. What a character!

All in all, it was a great trip. It was nice to spend some time with our kids and Troy's family and just get to relax a little!

Happy Easter

Since Easter came early this year, and because we were in the middle of tax season and having major employee issues, we didn't get to attend the Annual Easter Extravaganza put on by the Braithwaite's. So, we stayed home and attended an Easter Egg Hunt put on by some of our friends here in Hurricane. There were tons of eggs filled with all types of goodies, and all Darrin cared about was pushing Max around in the stroller. He did happen to "find" a couple of Easter Eggs and that was as much fun as he needed.

The next morning, the Easter Bunny had left some presents for our little ones: Darrin got a new Geo Trax and Max got a counting Piggy Bank. He also left a couple of eggs around the house for Darrin to find. And, you can't forget the matching church shirts (as you can tell, they were thrilled about them!) All in all, we had a Happy Easter!!!